Hotel Bel Air Valkenburg

... Inside there was a Coffee shop bar that sold the usual range of drinks as well as papers,lighters etc. The 'exotic wares' were dispensed through cashier style windows at the back of the shop, screens above the windows showed what types of weed/hash are available and giving their price per gram, I picked up a gram of 'Pollen Gold' hash (Pollen has always been my favourite) and then got a coffee and mineral water and headed through to the ...

... me missing As). Even this mistake was quickly corrected now that I had a map (I couldn't tell where the sun was anyway).
I crossed back into the Netherlands about 330 (although I don't remember the sign) and was in Maastricht around 30 minutes later. It has got to be one of the Nicest places I have yet been, and the full swing of late Xmas night shopping as dusk fell made the atmosphere even more convivial.
I was again heading for a hostel because I had ...

... and filling our heads with fairy tales. We then headed back to Emil's pretty great student apartment, before heading out for a Greek dinner (Emil, Claus and I) and then to a pub for some pretty good Danish beer. We were joined later by Claus's lovely girlfriend, Louisa, and her friend, Charlotte. It was a great evening with great company, and for those who may be wondering, both Claus and Emil are in fine form and doing very well. Odense is a pretty city, and despite the huge ...

... old house, and a few other local sights. We stopped by the stables and said hello to Maud's horse as well as riding past the kids' schools. It was quite sunny so we stopped for lunch at a cafe and ate outdoors looking at the river. I let Hugo choose what I should eat and so I experienced 'Frikandel' - a kind of deep fried sausage. I asked what was in it but they refused to tell me until after I ate it. Suffice to say I felt as if I could get home at a brisk ...

During our stay in Spa we had the most scary, horrible, unpleasant experience ever in a restaurant.

The restaurant to avoid is "Le Bouchon Gourmand", the owner does not hesitate to insult customers, lock them into the restaurant if there is a dispute on the bill, and claim more money than is due.

See more on www.bouchon-gourmand.blogspot.com

After popping into and out of Germany, we were now back in Belgium. It was beginning to get a bit dark, and we still had at least 200 miles left to drive.

Gaz's motor was struggling, and threatening to overheat, so we stopped to let it cool down.

With the vehicles all decorated with stickers, we attracted a bit of attention, and a Belgian couple took our ...

... in Mancora (ISR) Ai in Montanita (JAP) Daniël en Danilo in Guayacuil (ECU) Brigitte in Guayacuil (DEN) Jimmy, Ever en Roberto in Puerto Lopez (ECU) José en Luis in Puerto Lopez (ECU) Pablo Picasso in Puerto Lopez (ECU) Jaime in Puerto Lopez (ECU) Ronny en Espen in Puerto Lopez (NOR) Dave in Puerto Lopez (ENG) Nicole in Puerto Lopez (ZWE) Enrique in Puerto Lopez (SPA) Uri in Puerto Lopez (ISR) Sarah in Puerto Lopez (ENG) Isidro en Dolores in Tosagua (ECU)

... Maastricht and walking along a highway (in the bike lane). The Chateau Nercanne was on the edge of a little village. The buildings have been transformed into a hotel and a restuarant (one of the most expensive places to eat and sleep in the south of the Netherlands) We were a bit underdressed to venture inside but the gardens and caves were ...

... edge of the town centre there were a number of different animal statues set around the bottom of an old concrete enclosure. After coming across a dog-like creature with a striped back, we jokingly pronounced it to be a Tasmanian Tiger, looking up at us in recognition of spotting two of his own. Despite the uncanny resemblance we dismissed it as something more European, like a fox or a wolf or something, until with ...

Dit is de start van een nieuw leven! Een jaar lang weg uit de omgeving die voor mij gedurende 18 jaar zo bekend is geworden. Die bekende omgeving ga ik nu verlaten en ga nieuwe horizonten opzoeken. Spannend? Eng? Ik denk een beetje van beiden. Maar dat wil niet zeggen dat ik het niet meer zie zitten.

De laatste dagen zijn hier wel wat vreemd geweest, de dag komt ook zo dichtbij. Afscheidsfeestje is geweest voor vrienden en familie. Want ik ga ...